National Council of Administration
Meeting Minutes
12 August 2010
Overland Park, KS
The Council of Administration meeting was opened by Commander-in-Chief Leo F. Kennedy at 7:12 pm.
The opening prayer was offered by National Chaplain Jerome Kowalski, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, led by CinC Leo Kennedy.
The roll of Council of Administration was called, with the following recorded as present:
Voting Members Present
Commander-in-Chief Leo F. Kennedy Council Member Robert Petrovic
Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief Brad Schall Council Member Kenneth Freshley
National Secretary Donald D. Palmer, Jr. Council Member Tad Campbell
National Treasurer Richard D. Orr, PCinC Council Member Perley Mellor
National Quartermaster Danny L. Wheeler, PCinC Council Member William VieiraPCinC David V. Medert and Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief James Hanby were recorded as absent.
Non-Voting Members Present
Executive Director David Demmy PCinC Ed Krieser
National Counselor Robert Grim, PCinC PCinC James B. Pahl
Banner Editor Stephen A. Michaels, PCinC PCinC Keith Harrison
Washington, D.C. Rep Andrew Johnson, PCinC PCinC Charles Kuhn
PCinC Bud Atkinson PCinC George Powell
PCinC Don Darby PCinC Richard GreenwaltGuests of the Council of Administration
National Chaplain Jerome Kowalski PDC Alan Russ (Acting Program & Policy Chairman)
Asst. Nat. Treasurer Max Newman
PDC Steve Hammond-Dept of MD National GRO Bruce Frail
Mark Day – Dept of MD PDC Blair Rudy – Dept of TX
Gene Mortorff – Dept of MD PDC Tim Downey – Dept of KY
Commander-in-Chief Kennedy introduced PDC Blair Rudy who presented recommendations from the Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee. Commander-in-Chief Kennedy ruled that the recommendations should be brought to the floor of the National Encampment. He also noted that a medal must be made available for review by the Council of Administration before approval could be granted.
Commander-in Chief Kennedy introduced PDC Tim Downey from the Department of Kentucky, who recommended Ms. Gaye Clark for Honorary Membership. Motion by Council Member Bob Petrovic, second by National Quartermaster Danny Wheeler, to delay action on this recommendation until the post-Encampment Council of Administration meeting. Motion passed.
Executive Director David Demmy presented his report to the Council of Administration and highlighted his recommendation to drop requirement for Camps to submit Form 22. Motion by National Treasurer Richard Orr, second by Council Member Perley Mellor, to send this recommendation to the Constitution & Regulations Committee for review. Motion passed.
PDC Alan Russ, acting Program & Policy Committee Chairman, presented the report from this committee.
- On the subject of revisions to Forms 50 and 53, the committee recommended that the modified version of Form 50 be adopted and Form 53 be eliminated due to redundancy. Motion by Council Member Bill Vieira, second by Council Member Tad Campbell. Motion passed.
- On the subject of revisions to Form 55, the committee recommended the modified version of Form 55 be adopted. Motion by National Treasurer Orr, second by Council Member Petrovic, to approve the recommendations, but requests that an additional page be developed to include information on dual members. Motion passed.
- The results of the review of Awards and Recognition Policy were presented. Motion by National Treasurer Orr, second by National Quartermaster Wheeler, to change the award period dates as recommended, plus change “National Executive Officer” to “National Executive Director”. Motion passed.
- Motion by National Treasurer Orr, second by National Quartermaster Wheeler, to accept the Awards & Recognition Policy recommendations with the specified amendments. Motion passed.
- A discussion was held regarding the intent of the term “member” relative to the B.F. Stephenson, Davis-Linder and Under 40 Awards. National Treasurer Orr offered his opinion that “member” means “member” and not “brother”. Motion by Council Member Vieira, second by Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief Brad Schall, that the Council of Administration stipulate that “member” means “Brother”. Commander-in-Chief Kennedy nullified this motion and ruled that this question should be brought before the National Encampment.
National Graves Registration Officer Bruce Frail presented recommendations from the Graves Registration Committee.
- On the request to permit Archives.com to place a link on their website to allow their users to access the SUVCW Graves Registration website, motion by National Treasurer Orr, second by National Quartermaster Wheeler, to deny this request. Motion passed.
- The committee requested that a line-item account be established for development and maintenance of a new database and Graves Registration Committee expenses. Motion by Council Member Vieira, second by Council Member Mellor, to approve and set a cap at $5000 for start up. Motion by Council Member Ken Freshley, second by National Treasurer Orr, to amend the original motion to allow up to $10,000. Motion passed.
- Motion by National Treasurer Orr, second by Council Member Vieira, to amend the original motion to require the committee to include maintenance costs, which would continue over time. Motion passed.
- Original motion as amended passed. The committee requested that it be allowed to make changes to the Graves Registration Handbook without Council of Administration or Program & Policy Committee review/approval. Motion by National Quartermaster Wheeler, second by National Treasurer Orr, to approve the recommendation for appendices only. Motion passed.
A recommendation was made by Council Member Petrovic to put a limit on funds allocated from the Civil War Memorals Grant Fund at $500. The Commander-in-Chief tasked Brother Petrovic to propose revisions and submit to the Program & Policy Committee for review.
Department of Maryland Commander Gene Mortorff requested time during one of the National Encampment business sessions to give a short presentation on the plans for the 2011 National Encampment. The Commander-in-Chief granted five minutes.
Mark Day from the Department of Maryland noted that Taylor-Wilson Camp received $2000 from the National organization to support their projects and expressed his thanks. He also noted that letters will be sent requesting support for the Chaplain’s Museum in Lynchburg, VA.
Break at 8:52, reconvened at 9:18
National Treasurer Orr began his report by noting that the organization is spending a lot of money on postage associated with materials that can be downloaded from the National website. In some cases, spending more on postage than the value of the mailing. PCinC Jim Pahl noted that the National Quartermaster can increase prices on merchandise without Council of Administration approval.
National Treasurer Orr presented the proposed accounting policy for the National organization. Motion by Council Member Vieira, second by National Treasurer Orr, to adopt the accounting policy as proposed. Motion passed.
On the subject of investments, National Treasurer Orr noted that a subcommittee of the Council of Administration or a Financial Advisor is needed to develop an investment strategy in order to increase revenues. Motion by Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief Schall, second by National Quartermaster Wheeler, to establish subcommittee to investigate investment options and report at the November Council of Administration meeting. Motion passed.
The proposed budget for the 2010-2011 administrative year was reviewed. Motion by National Treasurer Orr, second by Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief Brad Schall, to adopt Option 2 as the budget. Motion by Council Member Petrovic, second by Council Member Mellor, to amend original motion by moving the Council of Administration Per Diem up to Commander-in-Chief Representative Reimbursement. National Treasurer Orr offered a friendly amendment, accepted by both Brother Petrovic and Brother Mellor, to add another $2500 to bring the total Representative Reimbursement to $3500. Motion passed. Motion by Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief Schall, second by Council Member Petrovic, to amend the original motion to add $5832 to Civil War Monument Fund reserves. Motion passed. Original motion as amended passed.
National Treasurer Orr noted that the IRS will begin dropping not-for-profit organizations that don’t file their 990N’s by the specified dates. This includes two Departments.
National Treasurer Orr requested an allocation of funds from the Special Projects account to cover expenses associated with a display case to house artifacts that once belonged to A.P. Davis. Motion by National Quartermaster Wheeler, second by Council Member Mellor, to grant this request. Motion passed.
In an attempt to reduce costs associated with the BANNER, BANNER Editor Steve Michaels presented several scenarios. These scenarios ranged from reducing pages, to fewer issues per year, to greater use of the internet.
With no further business to come before the Council, Commander-in-Chief Kennedy asked National Chaplain Jerry Kowalski to provide a closing prayer and subsequently adjourned the meeting at 11:20 pm.
Respectfully Submitted in Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty,
Donald D. Palmer, Jr., PDC
National Secretary, SUVCW
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